Kohl's stock recommended

Days after Kohl's Corp. reported that second-quarter profits shot up by more than a third (see story on page 21), retail analyst George Strachan of Goldman Sachs put the red-hot retailer on his list of recommended stocks. He called Kohl's the highest-quality organic growth story in the entire broadlines sector.

Strachan forecast long-term earnings per-share growth at 24 percent, sharply higher than the average return on investment on a retail industry stock. Strachan said Kohl's occupies "a secure niche in the large and underserved $100 billion middle market for apparel."

Kohl's, Strachan added, is "smaller and more agile" than most of its competitors among department and chain stores, providing it with more flexibility in a persistently weak retail environment. "Once again, we expect Kohl's to run circles around the lumbering game plans of its competitors," he added.

Strachan set a 12-month price target of $70 for the retailer's stock, almost 28 percent higher than its recent trading price.